ECC corps members conducting experiment

Tucked inside an industrial zone on the shores of the Anacostia, the Earth Conservation Corps (ECC) not only focuses on the river, but also focuses on the young people in the watershed communities along its banks. "Our mission is multi-dimensional," said Glen O'Gilvie, ECC's president and chief executive officer. The organization promotes youth development while improving the environment. "The goal is to empower our endangered youth to take back their Anacostia River, their communities and their lives," O'Gilvie said.

Founded during the administration of President George H.W. Bush in 1989, ECC provides disadvantaged young men and women aged 17 to 25 with hands-on educational experiences on environmental issues and professional development to build leadership skills. The 11-month program leads corps members to take advantage of employment opportunities or to further pursue their education.

Historic Surroundings

ECC has two learning center buildings. The Matthew Henson Center is named for the great African American explorer who reached the North Pole with Commander Robert Peary in 1909. Henson's journey from childhood poverty in the Washington, D.C. area literally to the top of the world offers great inspiration to ECC corps members.

The second building is the ECC Pumphouse, built in 1903 to provide steam heat for the Capitol building. It now houses the Youth Media Arts and Riverkeeper programs. These buildings are located on "brownfields," as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency as "property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant." ECC's programs focus on cleaning and reclaiming this area.

O'Gilvie said that the 25 ECC corps members learn about "green" construction methods that are energy-efficient, and development methods that have a minimal impact on the environment, such as making rain gardens (which I learned are man-made depressions in the ground that are used as a landscape tool to improve water quality). Before I left the site I stopped to watch some of the current corps members conduct an experiment on the banks of the river. The teens were using gravel, sand, rocks, sticks and other natural materials to see which were best at slowing the flow of water through funnels into bottles they had set up to capture debris from the water.

ECC corps headquarters

Brian Van Wye is ECC's Anacostia riverkeeper. A riverkeeper is a person who advocates compliance with environmental laws. The duties include conducting regular river cleanups and patrols, providing educational materials to local citizens, conducting outreach programs in the river's residing communities and promoting environmental stewardship. Van Wye says he's seen a range of responses from the program participants as they work and learn about the river. Wye said some young people respond immediately to the large amounts of trash in the river, and soon learn that the Anacostia is a valuable resource worth protecting. On the other hand, Wye said, some of the young people are not always ready to learn that lesson—they may have too many other issues that they are dealing with in their communities to focus on the river.

ECC corps member Jeramie Brisbon, 20, said that the Anacostia River is "'our home' and we should want to make it better." Brisbon said he sees the program as a challenge and an opportunity, but that the hardest thing for him is developing a work ethic. He feels lucky to be one of the twenty-five picked from 149 applicants. He said that it used to be "all about me" but now he is a team player. He intends to earn his General Education Degree (GED) after the program and plans to attend a local college.

Life Lessons

Rodney Stotts, 34, was one of the original Corps members in the first program (1992) and is now ECC's youth program coordinator. "I view this program as a life-saver," Stotts said. He recalled attending 33 funerals in a single year as a young man. What most struck him about the program was that it functioned like a family. "No matter their background, all the participants were full members of the family, and treated with love," he said. Stotts explained that before he started this program he was involved in street crime and drug dealing. "I was one of those guys you tell your daughter not to date," Stotts said. He is grateful that he joined the ECC program when he did and said that it probably saved his life.

Now as a staff member, Stotts said he makes a point of taking each new corps member of the corps and showing them what someone took the time to show him—that hard work and perseverance pay off.

Another former corps member who is now on staff is LaShauntya Moore, 25, the ECC's career training program coordinator. Moore said she came to the program to get her GED when she was 20 and left with a whole different outlook on life. "I did get my GED, but I also had a life-long support system," Moore said. "You don't get that from a lot of places. Here you get a kick in the butt when you need it and a hug when you need it too."

Moore emphasized the importance of the lessons she learned from the program—taking responsibility for herself and taking the initiative to better her prospects. "Now, I can pass those lessons on to my children," Moore said. "So the program is having a ripple effect."

Moore feels policymakers and others in power should come to neighborhoods like Anacostia in Southeast D.C. and get a glimpse of real life. "Some of them have never had to struggle," Moore said.

Resources

Earth Conservation Corps [1]